Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Blue moon to appear in the sky on Friday

According to scientists, a blue moon will appear in the sky on Friday, August 31, 2012.

The blue moon refers not to colour, but
to rarity. Blue moons aren’t actually blue-hued, although blue and even
green moons have been seen before.

Blue moons are best known from the
phrase “once in a blue moon,” meant to refer to something extremely
rare. Two blue moons in a month aren’t all that unusual, however; they
occur 2.7 years apart on average, though not with great regularity.

The last blue moon occurred on Dec. 31,
2009. That “New Year’s Eve Blue Moon” also coincided with a partial
lunar eclipse for viewers in Europe, Asia, Africa and some parts of
Alaska.

Reportedly, the moon will be at its
fullest at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT) on Friday. The next blue moon will
occur on July 31, 2015.